26 Beauties

Title: 26 Beauties
Author: James Patterson
Published: May 4, 2026 by Little, Brown and Company
Format: Hardcover, 341 Pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Series: Women's Murder Club #26

Blurb: SFPD’s Sergeant Lindsay Boxer's best friend, Claire Washburn, is named medical examiner of the year. But an uninvited guest crashes the Women’s Murder Club's party: a concerned father seeking investigative reporter Cindy Thomas’s help in locating his missing daughter. And she’s not the only one. Lindsay’s been investigating the deaths of a Jane Doe washed up on a nearby beach, and a young woman found in Golden Gate Park.

What if all these cases are connected?

My Opinion: I’ll admit, the first thing that caught my attention with 26 Beauties was the absence of Maxine Paetro’s name on the cover. After so many Patterson/Paetro pairings, seeing Patterson flying solo felt a little like walking into your living room and noticing someone moved the couch; familiar, but just off enough to make you pause.

Once I settled in, the usual cast was right where they always are: the Women’s Murder Club, their partners, their fellow officers. There’s a comfort in that continuity. The story itself is simple but flows well, helped along by Patterson’s trademark short chapters, the kind that trick you into saying “just one more” until suddenly you’ve read half the book.

This is one of those easy pick-up, put-down reads, unless you inhale it in an afternoon, which is entirely possible. It has that vacation-weekend energy: brisk, digestible, and not demanding too much emotional bandwidth.

What surprised me most was how much I ended up enjoying it. The last few installments had Lindsay Boxer drifting into the background of her own series, which always felt a bit wrong since she’s the heartbeat of these books. Here, she’s finally front and center again, and the story is stronger for it.

The courtroom subplot could’ve used a bit more weight, and Cindy Thomas’s storyline serves as a nice breather without overstaying its welcome. It’s just enough of a side thread to keep the pacing lively without pulling focus.

One thing worth noting: the subject matter is rough. Not graphic, but unmistakably dark beneath the surface. I was genuinely surprised the publisher didn’t include any content warnings, especially since the blurb keeps things vague. Readers will pick up on what’s happening, but a heads-up would’ve been considerate for those who would need it.

Overall, a better, more engaging entry than I expected, and a welcome return to form for Lindsay Boxer.

The Caretaker

Title: The Caretaker
Author: Marcus Kliewer
Published: April 21, 2026 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books/12:01 Books
Format: Hardcover, 295 Pages
Genre: Horror

Blurb: Macy Mullins can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention—it had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all—vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she's not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for.

Besides, it’s only three days’ work…

Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness.

What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property—and Macy Mullins might just be the only thing standing between it, and the rest of humanity.

Follow the Rites...

Follow the Rites...

Follow the Rites...

My Opinion: I went into The Caretaker fully prepared to say, “Nope, not for me.” Horror and I have an understanding: it stays over there, and I stay over here with my cozy mysteries and my sanity intact. And honestly, book recommendations rarely land for me. I’m never sure if it’s that people don’t quite know my reading quirks, or if they’re simply passing along what worked for them and hoping for the best. But every now and then, something slips past my defenses and pulls me in before I realize I’ve stopped breathing.

Well… this time, it worked.

I’m not usually a horror reader, but Marcus Kliewer had me from page one. My usual “let me give it a moment” turned into nine chapters plus the preface, which, by the way, is unsettling enough on its own to make you wonder if you should keep going or call for backup. The vibe is a little King, a little Koontz, and a dash of From (the TV show) sprinkled in for good measure. It’s that brand of horror where the world feels just familiar enough to lull you in, and then suddenly you’re staring at something so wrong your brain needs a minute to recalibrate.

This is absolutely a “read in big sweeping chunks” kind of book. If you stop, it takes a handful of pages to find your footing again, like trying to jump back onto a moving train. Make the commitment. Settle in. Accept that air is optional. And then join the ever growing “what the heck did I just read?” fandom. Also, side note, maybe don’t leave a depressed person in charge of saving the world. Just saying.

This was my first Kliewer novel, and to the folks who recommended it: dang, you did good. I may not sleep tonight, but I read the thing, and it’s going to stew in my head for a long while. I’ll be eyeing any future Kliewer books with a healthy dose of side eye, wondering if I’m about to be dragged into another creepy, terrifying ride where rabbits are omens and eye color determines who’s good and who’s very much not.

And honestly? I kind of hope I am.

The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts

Title: The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts
Author: Robert Thorogood
Published: January 15, 2026 by HQ
Format: Kindle, 313 Pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Marlow Murder Club #5

Blurb: Someone is killing celebrities in Marlow! When footballer Gary Wise and thriller writer Tony Sexton are found dead, Judith, Suzie, and Becks (AKA The Marlow Murder Club) must untangle a web of blackmail and scandal to find the killer. But with their friend and police contact, DI Malik, suspended from duty, and Judith’s own past catching up with her, The Marlow Murder Club find themselves on their own for the first time ever.

With suspects piling up like tabloid headlines, and someone threatening to expose Judith’s secrets, the pressure is on for The Marlow Murder Club in more ways than one … Can they find the killer and help Judith in time, or will this be the end of The Marlow Murder Club?

My Opinion: You know that feeling when you finish a mystery and realize the author had been winking at you the whole time? The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts absolutely leans into that. The clues were sitting right there in plain sight, bold as can be, and yet Robert Thorogood manages to tuck them beneath layers of misdirection so neatly that when you do pause and think, “huh, that’s an interesting word choice,” you immediately talk yourself out of it. It’s the kind of sleight of hand that makes you feel both fooled and delighted.

And I’ll admit it: I enjoy the books far more than the television series, even though my brain refuses to let go of the actors’ faces. Every time Judith, Becks, or Suzie walks onto the page, the show’s cast strolls in right behind them.

This series has been one of those cozy mystery comfort reads I look forward to with each new installment. From the very beginning, Thorogood built a trio of women who are so wildly different, yet competent, at amateur sleuthing that you do occasionally wonder how they keep their day jobs. They’re forever traipsing across the countryside, poking into suspicious corners, and somehow still managing to show up for work. Eventually you just shrug, let realism take a little nap, and enjoy the ride. It’s part of the fun that the world bends a bit to let these women do what they do best.

There are genuinely funny moments in this book, but I felt a little shadow hanging over them because of the rumor that this might be the final book in the series. It’s hard not to read with that tiny ache in the background, wondering if this is the last time we’ll follow these women into danger, laughter, and tea fueled deduction.

Hot Girl Murder Club

Title: Hot Girl Murder Club
Author: Ashley Winstead
Published: July 14, 2026 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 336 Pages
Genre: Psychological Thriller

Blurb: Ten years ago, aspiring singer-actress Scout Sage lost the only thing that mattered: her sister, Georgia. Ever since Georgia’s mysterious death at a Hollywood party, Scout’s done her best to honor her memory, clawing her way through the industry and collecting a network of climbers along the way, fellow hot girls in stilettos with cutthroat ambition, a new Hollywood order.

But when a slew of targeted murders makes headlines across LA, all pointing to Scout as the killer, she turns overnight from a mid-tier pop star into the world’s most famous (alleged) murderer. Now everything she’s worked to build—including the justice she wants for Georgia—will fall apart unless Scout can prove she’s not guilty.

Meanwhile, the young and unusual detective assigned to her case, herself no stranger to tragedy, begins to unearth secrets not even Scout knows, let alone her millions of new fans. Particularly about the ways Georgia’s death connects to an even older pattern of crimes long hushed over in Hollywood—an old reign of terror that, if brought to light, could be the fuel that ignites a reckoning the world over.

My Opinion: From the very first pages, Hot Girl Murder Club grabbed me and said, “Settle in, we’re doing this.” And I did, though I’ll admit, those early chapters had me flipping back and forth, trying to keep track of who was connected to whom, and the reason for two timelines at once. There’s the present day, the past, and, just to keep things spicy, a PhD dissertation being defended at UCLA’s History Department running parallel to the whole thing. For a minute, I wondered if I was simply outnumbered by the cast list. But then something shifted. Either the book calmed down, or I leaned in harder, because suddenly the chaos made sense… right up until Winstead tossed in more characters and I was back to muttering, “Wait, who are you again?”

But here’s the thing: I loved it. I couldn’t put the book down. I kept sneaking pages whenever I could. Those little stolen moments throughout the day, until I could finally sit down at night and devour big, satisfying chunks. Winstead gives you the whole picture early on, or at least you think she does. You know the broad strokes of what happened. The hook isn’t what happened; it’s how they got there. And that “how” is addictive.

Then come the twists. One lands, and you think, “Ah, clever.” Then another. And then a couple more, each one nudging you upright, making you refocus, making you reconsider the entire architecture of the story. It’s that delicious “what if” territory; the kind that gets your mental gears whirring long after you’ve closed the book.

By the end, you’ll want notes. Lots of notes. Character webs, motivations, group dynamics, the whole messy tangle. And even then, you’ll spend days afterward trying to piece it all together again, replaying conversations, rethinking alliances, wondering how you missed certain tells. It’s the kind of book that lingers, not because it’s confusing, but because it’s alive in your head.

This was my second Ashley Winstead novel, the first being This Book Will Bury Me, and I dare say Hot Girl Murder Club puts the first to shame. Not because the earlier book wasn’t exceptional (it absolutely was), but because this one has that rare, days after resonance. It’s the feeling that tells you Winstead isn’t just good; she’s the kind of author who reminds psychological thriller lovers exactly why they adore this genre. The tension, the intellect, the emotional messiness, the narrative audacity- it’s all here, and it’s all done with skill and confidence.